AGRIC.  DEFT, 


PRACTICAL  FARM  BUILDINGS 


Practical  Farm  Buildings 

Plans  and  Suggestions     By  A.  F.  Hunter 


PUBLISHED    BY 

F.   W.    BIRD    A    SON 


NEW  YORK 


Established  1817 

EAST  WALPOLE,  MASS.,  U.  S.  A. 

WASHINGTON 

Canadian  Factory  and  Office,  Hamilton!  <ir.t. '• 

!;!:iiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiini:i!iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiii!!!iiiinniiii!iuiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiM^ 


CHICAGO 


IOO5,  F.  W.  BIRD  &  SON 

UlUlliUlllllilll: 


PRACTICAL    FARM    BUILDINGS 

1.    POULTRY    HOUSES. 


SUN     TPOM 
APRIL  Z/i-'  TO 
SEPT..  AC-* 


"PLACE     THE 
WINDOWS    HIGH. 


-15' 


FIG.  2. 


Bulletin  No.  16  of  the  Cornell  Reading  Course  for  Farmers  is  entitled  "Building  Poultry 

Houses,"  and  from  it,  and  Farmers'  Bulletin  No.  141  of  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture,  many 

of  the  hints  and  suggestions  here   used  arc  borrowed;  a  few  of  the  poultry  house  plans  are  adapted 

from    recent    poultry   periodicals;    for   their   courtesy    our   thanks   are    hereby   tendered.       Farmers' 

Bulletin   No.    141,   says:      "Poultry   houses  need   not   be  elaborate   in  their  fittings  or  expensive  in 

construction.      There  are  certain  conditions,  however,  which   should  be  insisted  upon  in  all  cases.      In 

the  first  place,  the  house  should  be  located  upon  soil  which  is  well  drained  and  dry.      A  gravelly  knoll 

is  best,  but,  failing  this,   the  site   should  be   raised  by  the  use  of  the  plow  and  scraper  until  there  is  a 

gentle  slope  in  all   directions  sufficient  to  prevent   any  standing  water  even  at  the  wettest  times.     A 

few  inches  of  sand  or  gravel  on  the  surface  will  be  very  useful  in   preventing  the  formation  of  mud.     If 

the   house  is  sheltered  from  the  north  and  northwest  winds  by  a  group  of   evergreens,  this  will  be  a 

decided  advantage  in  the  colder  parts  of  the  country." 

In  Building  Poultry  House*  Professor  Rice  puts  "suitable  buildings,  properly  located"  as  the 

first  of  the  four  cornerstones  upon  which  success  rests,  and  in  giving  the  buildings  this  prominence  we  believe  he  is  entirely  right;   no  one  thing  does  n'nre  to 

promote  or  hinder  successful  work  with  poultry  than  the  buildings,  and  to  aid  the  reader.  M  a  wjse  decision  as  to  which  of  many  different   patterns  of   poultry  houses 

is  best  adapted  to  his  purposes  we  offer  these  plans  and  suggestions.  Agric    1) 

Select  a  dry  location  ;  if  the  ground  is  not  naturally  dry,  make  it  so  by  draining  it.     Tfie  first  illustration  gives  a  plan  for  making  the  interior  of  a  poultry 

house  absolutely  dry  if  the  ground  is  well  drained.     The  foundation  walls  are  built  up  eighteen  inches  above  the  ground  level.     Ten  or  twelve  inches  of  this  space 

is  filled  in  with  small  stones  or  coarse  gravel,  and  the  balance  with  fine  sand  or  dry,  sandy  loam ;   outside  the  ground  is  sloped  up  to  the  level  of  the  bottom  of  the 

sills,  and  all  the  surface  water  is  effectually  turned  away. 

Dampness  is  fatal  to  hens ;  drain  to  promote  dryness.  It  is  better  by  far  to  have  a  cold,  dry- 
house  than  a  warm,  damp  house.  The  warmer  the  air  the  more  moisture  it  will  hold.  When  this 
moist  air  comes  in  contact  with  a  cold  surface,  condensation  takes  place  which  is  often  converted 
into  hoar  frost.  The  remedy,  therefore,  is  to  remove  the  moisture,  as  far  as  possible,  by  first  cutting 
off  the  water  from  below  which  comes  up  from  the  soil.  The  water  table  is  the  same  under  a  hen- 
house as  it  is  outdoors.  Dirt  floors  are  therefore  damp.  Stone  filling  covered  with  soil  is  hard  to 

*  /Jcteali  and  only  partially  keeps  out  dampness.      Board  floors  are  short  lived  if  the  air  is  not  allowed 
•"  "to*  Circulate  under  the  house.      If  the  foundation  walls  are  not    tight,   the   floors   are    cold.      In   any 

lca£s  'they  harbor  rats.       A    good    cement   floor  is  nearly  as  cheap  as  a  good    matched-board    floor, 

•  ••coVmfm'g  lumber,  sleepers,  nails,  time,  etc.      When  once  properly  made  it   is  good  for  all  time.      It  is 

practically  rat-proof,  easily  cleaned  and  perfectly  dry,  cutting  off  absolutely  all  the  water  from  below. 
If  covered  with  a  little  soil,  or  straw    or  both,  as  all  kinds  of  floors  should  be,   it  will  be  a  warm  floor. 

\2\.  .-'•• 


SAND  05  SANPI.  LMty 

SWAIISTO/ME3   OR   g 


FIG.  1  —  A  plan  to  secure  dryness. 


No  I  No. 2..  No.  3. 

Fn,.    1  —  An  experiment  will)  curtains  in  windows. 


Fir,.  4  —  An  implement  house  adapted  for  poultry. 


Other  tilings  that  can  be  done  to  keep  dampness  out  of  the  air  is  to  use  absorbents,  like  dry  dust,  land  plaster,  or  South  Carolina  rock  on  the  droppings, 
which  should  be  frequently  removed;  and  by  keeping  plenty  of  dry  straw,  swale  hay,  buckwheat  hulls,  etc.,  on  the  floor  overhead  and  used  for  scratching 
litter  on  the  floor  of  the  pen. 

Secure  shelter  where  possible  by  building  in  the  lee  of  a  windbreak  or  a  hill,  or  of  other  farm  buildings.  Buildings  tlr.it  face  the  south  will  get  the 
largest  amount  of  exposure  to  the  sun's  rays;  other  things  being  equal,  they  will  be  warmer,  drier,  and  more  cheerful.  Too  much  glass  makes  a  house  too 
cold  at  night  and  too  warm  during  the  daytime,  because  glass  gives  off  heat  at  night  as  readily  as  it  collects  it  in  the  daytime.  Much  glass  makes  construction 
expensive.  Allow  one  square  foot  of  glass  surface  to  about  16  square  feet  of  floor  space,  if  the  windows  are  properly  placed.  The  windows  should  be  high  and 
placed  up  and  down  rather  than  horizontally  and  low.  In  the  former  the  sunlight  passes  over  the  entire  floor  during  the  day,  from  east  to  west,  drying  and 
purifying  practically  the  whole  interior.  (See  Fig.  2.)  The  time  when  sunshine  is  most  needed  is  when  the  sun  is  lowest,  from  September  21  to  March  21; 
the  arrows  show  the  extreme  points  which  the  sunshine  reaches  during  this  period. 

Much  of  the  dampness  in  poultry  houses  in  winter  is  due  to  the  condensation  of  the  moisture  of  the  breath  of  the  fowls.  The  warm  air  exhaled  from 
the  lungs  is  heavily  charged  with  moisture.  In  recent  years  considerable  success  has  attended  efforts  to  eliminate  this  moisture  by  ventilating  the  pens  through 
cloth  curtains  set  i  ito  the  tops  of  the  doors  (see  plans  of  Dr.  Bricault's  poultry  house,  page  8,  and  the  Maine  Experiment  Station  house,  page  9)  or  set  into  part 
of  the  window  space.  In  Fig.  3  is  shown  an  illustration  of  an  experiment  tried  on  the  Lone  Oak 
Poultry  Farm,  Reading,  Mass.,  last  winter.  Being  much  annoyed  by  the  moisture  which  collected 
on  the  roof  and  walls  in  the  night,  and,  melting,  dropped  to  the  floor  when  the  sun  warmed  the 
roof  and  walls  during  the  day,  frames  the  size  of  one  fourth  of  each  window  were  made  and 
common  muslin  tacked  on.  To  better  ascertain  the  effect  of  the  curtains  the  windows  in  house 
No.  I  were  left  closed,  as  formerly;  in  house  No.  2  the  top  sash  was  dropped  the  length  of  one 
Hirlit  and  a  curtain  set  in  the  place:  in  house  No.  3  the  windows  were  dropped  from  the  top  and 
raised  from  the  bottom,  curtains  being  set  in  the  spaces.  In  house  No.  1  the  dampness  and 
'"chill"  remained  as  before;  in  house  No.  2  there  was  some  improvement;  in  house  No.  3  there 
was  a  great  improvement;  and  the  temperature,  in  the  coldest  days  of  the  winter,  was  about  six  FIG.  5  — around  pun. 

092127*1 


Roosts 


FIG.  7      Implement  house  with  scratching  shed  added. 


degrees  warmer  in  house  No.  3  than  in 

No.  1,  where  the  windows  were  all  closed 

tight.     The  two  curtains  were  not  quite 

sufficient  to  dry  out  the  moisture,  which 

had  already  got  well   established,   but  it 

is  believed   that   having  the   curtains   to 

put  in  the  windows,  both  top  and  bottom, 

as  soon  as  freezing  weather  comes  in  the 

fall,  they  will  be  ample  to  keep  the  houses 

well  ventilated  and  quite  dry. 

The  shape  of  the  roof  of  the  poultry 

house    influences   the   cost,  and  we  give 

the  preference   to  plans    of    houses  with 

single-span    roofs.        These    houses    are 

easiest    and    cheapest   to    build,    and    with    the    slope    of    the    roof    to    the    north    we    get 

the   much  desired  vertical    front,   with    room  for   the  windows  to    be  placed    high    to  secure 

sunshine,   and  with  all  the  drip  of   the  roof   carried    off   to    the    north,  the    ground    in    front 

of  the  house  is  dry.      It  also  is  cooler  in  summer,  as  it  is  not  exposed  to  the  direct  rays  of 

the  sun. 

Not  infrequently  there  are  small  buildings  on  the  place  which  can  be  easily  and  economi- 
cally adapted  to  poultry  use;  as,  for  example,  an  old  implement  house,  or  tool   shed,  which  can 

be  made  into  a  one  or  two  pen  house,  as  desired,  by  arranging  windows  and  doors  and  adding 

one  or  two  open-front  scratching  sheds  for  exercise  and  fresh  air.  (Fig.  4  and  7.)  In  case  there  is  no  building  suitable  for  remodeling  into  a  poultry  house, 
an  inexpensive  lean-to  may  be  built  on  to  the  south  end  of  the  stable.  (Fig.  6.)  A  house  of  this  kind  can  be  simply,  economically,  and  conveniently  built,  and 
well  supplies  the  conditions  for  successful  poultry  keeping. 

Sometimes  a  dweller  in  the  suburbs  wants  to  keep  a  small  flock  of  poultry,  to  supply  the  family  with  fresh  eggs  through  the  fall,  winter,  and  spring 
and  then  fresh  meat  for  the  table;  well-matured  pullets  being  bought  new  when  fall  comes  again.  For  such  purpose  the  plan  given  in  Fig.  8  is  well  adapted, 
and  it  can  be  built  of  a  size  to  suit  convenience;  eight  feet  long  by  five  feet  deep,  six  feet  high  in  front,  and  four  feet  six  inches  at  the  back,  makes  a  usable  small 
house,  which  can  be  easily  moved  to  another  location  if  desired. 

Excellent  patterns  of  small  poultry  houses,  well  adapted  to  the  suburban  lot,  are  shown  on  pages  6  and  11;  these  "  Colony" 
houses  have  proved  their  merits  in  many  different  localities.  They  are  especially  valuable  on  a  farm,  where  it  is  desirable  to 
locate  a  flock  of  half-grown  chickens  out  in  a  grain  field;  or  on  a  poultry  farm  where  extra  room  is  needed  for  surplus  stock 
and  cockerels  which  are  to  be  sold  for  breeding  purposes.  A  solid  board  floor  enables  shutting  the  birds  in  at  night  and 
keeping  them  in  till  the  team  has  drawn  them  to  the  new  location  in  the  morning;  it  also  secures  the  birds  against  marauding 
animals  at  night,  if  the  slide  door  has  been  closed. 


Fro.  6      A  lean-to  poultry  house. 


FIG.  8      A  small  portable  poultry  house. 


fal 


In  Fig.  9  we  given  an  illustration  of  an  elevated  poultry  house  used 
in  Florida,  which  was  published  in  the  Poultry  Standard,  of  Stamford, 
Conn.,  and  described  as  made  of  Neponset  Red  Rope  Roofing,  both  top 
and  sides;  a  better  construction  would  be  Paroid  Roofing  for  roof  and 
sides,  or  Paroid  for  roof,  and  Neponset  Red  Rope  Roofing  for  the  ends 
and  sides.  This  house  is  built  upon  posts  set  in  the  ground  and  extend- 
ing to  the  roof,  five  feet  above  the  ground  at  the  back  and  six  feet  high 
in  front;  the  six  posts,  three  front  and  three  back,  are  all  the  frame 
required.  The  light  furring  to  sustain  the  roof  and  sides  is  nailed  to 
the  posts,  and  the  Roofing  securely  nailed  to  the  strips  of  furring. 

The  open  space  below  the  house  is  enclosed  by  one  inch  mesh 
wire  netting;  there  is  no  floor,  and  a  narrow  platform  along  the  rear, 
inside,  gives  the  hens  access  to  the  nest  boxes,  which  are  hinged  at  one 
end  and  swing  out  as  shown  in  the  drawing.  The  roost  poles  should 
be  a  foot  above  the  open  bottom,  to  be  quite  sheltered  from  winds. 


A  California  "  Mustiruuin  "  poultry  house. 


FIG.  9      A  Florida  poultry  bouse. 

Of  similar  pattern  is  the  "Mushroom"  poultry  house,  from  Southern  California. 
These  houses  may  be  built  any  size,  but  are  usually  made  four  or  five  feet  square.  The 
posts  are  four  and  one  half  feet  high  and  the  sides  left  open  for  a  distance  of  eighteen  inches 
at  the  bottom.  There  is  no  floor  used,  the  air  circulating  freely  beneath.  When  built  of 
boards  no  frame  is  needed,  the  boarding  being  nailed  to  the  posts.  The  roof  goes  up  from 
all  four  sides,  in  pyramid  form,  and  is  made  watei  tight.  The  roosts  are  placed  about 
fifteen  or  eighteen  inches  above  the  bottom,  as  shown  by  the  dotted  lines,  and  a  walk  or 
ladder  is  provided  which  leads  from  the  ground  to  the  rear  roosts.  This  is  made  movable, 
so  that  it  can  be  taken  down  at  night,  thus  protecting  the  fowls  from  marauding  animals. 

Some  of  the  houses  are  built  of  iron  advertising  signs,  and  have  the  common  double- 
pitch  roof;  in  some  cases  the  sides  are  made  of  burlap  tacked  on  to  furring,  which  is  nailed 
to  the  posts.  This  burlap  is  then  painted  with  crude  oil,  distillate  and  Venetian  Red  to 
make  it  wind  proof.  Lumber  is  very  expensive  in  that  section,  and  the  burlap,  when 
water-proofed,  makes  a  cheap  and  quite  desirable  house. 

A  better  water  tight  and  economical  construction  would  be  Paroid  Roofing  for  the 
roof  and  Neponset  Red  Rope  Roofing  for  the  sides. 


When  fowl  are  kept  in  the  confinement  of  houses  and  yards  an  impor- 
tant question  is  how  to  keep  the  yards  sweet.  The  ground  becomes  tainted 
in  a  couple  of  years  or  so,  and  then  is  a  fruitful  source  of  disease.  Unless 
grass  can  be  kept  growing  so  as  to  keep  the  ground  free  from  the  poison  of 
the  droppings  there  is  no  alternative  but  to  change  the  ground.  It  is  well  to 
have  two  runs,  using  each  alternately,  and  by  planting  the  one  vacated  with 
some  quick-growing  crop  it  can  be  made  ready  for  occupancy  again  in  a 
few  weeks. 

It  is  a  comparatively  simple  proposition  to  have  the  yards  divided  in  two 
sections,  by  setting  the  house  in  the  middle,  having  half  (or  two  fifths  or 
three  fifths)  of  the  length  of  yards  north  of  the  house;  these  north  yards 
being  used  three  or  four  months  in  summer,  a  crop  of  some  suitable  kind 
being  grown  in  the  vacant  yards  south  of  the  house. 

In  Fig.  11  we  give  a  plan  for  such  house  and  yards.  In  this  plan  we 
suppose  the  yards  to  be  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet  long  by  eighteen 
wide,  and  have  placed  fifty  feet  of  length  of  yards  north  of  the  house  and 
seventy-five  feet  of  length  south  of  it.  There  are  lift-off  gates  next  to  the 
house  in  the  fences  south  of  house,  the  second  gate  in  illustration  being  shown 
as  lifted  off  and  leaning  against  the  next  panel  of  fence.  These  gates  give 
access  to  all  the  yards,  for  plowing,  harrowing,  and  cultivating  a  crop;  also 
for  driving  up  to  the  front  of  the  pen«  with  a  cart  to  haul  away  the  fouled 
earth  of  the  floor  of  the  house.  The  usual  access  to  these  yards  is  through 

the  house  itself  and  a  gate  opening  out  of  the  scratching  shed;  for  ordinary  visits  to  the  north  yards  there  are  small,   swinging  gates  next  to  the  house,  and  then 
lift-gates  which  will  admit  a  team  for  plowing,  etc. 

Small,  detached  houses  for  individual  flocks  of  fowls  are  becoming  more  and  more  popular  amongst  poultrymen,  and  one  of  the  leading  poultry  periodicals  is 
authority  for  the   statement  that  the  one-time  popularity  of  the  long  poultry  house  is  distinctly  waning.     The   "Colony"    house,   as  it  is  called,  possesses  many 

advantages  which  cannot  be  found  in  the  long  house,  and  it  is  but  truth  to  state  that  it  has  much  adaptability  to 
a  variety  of  uses.  Among  these  are  housing  a  flock  of  fowls  in  winter,  and  it  is  then  sometimes  convenient  to 
draw  them  up  together,  so  as  to  save  steps  in  going  from  one  to  another;  using  them  as  brooder  houses  in  the 
spring;  colonizing  flocks  of  youngsters  in  them  out  in  the  grass  fields  directly  after  the  hay  crop  is  harvested; 
housing  surplus  males  in  them  in  the  fall,  etc. 

An  excellent  plan  of  colony  house  is  given  in  Figs.  12  and  13,  and  comes 
from  the  Connecticut  Experiment  Station;  this  combines  the  advantages  of  the 
scratching  shed  with  a  colony  house.  This  house  is  sixteen  feet  long  by  six  feet 
wide,  is  six  feet  high  in  front,  and  four  feet  high  at  the  rear,  the  roosting 
apartment  being  seven  by  six  feet  and  the  scratching  shed  nine  by  six  feet  in  size.  in..  H  — c;ruunj  plan. 

[6] 


FIG.   11  —  Continuous  scratching-slied  poultry  bouse,  with  double  yards. 


Fie;.  12  —  Colony  poultry   limi^r  ;it  Connecticut 
Experiment  Station. 


1'X&'            < 

7'X6' 

6,    A 

Curtained-  Front 
Scratching  Shed. 
10  X  10  Ft 

I    I    . 

ll    II 

8  X  1  0  Ft 

A  = 

7\_ 

£N__ 

A  ==     j 

Showing 

Curtains. 
One  hooked  up 

to  Roof 
One  down 


Ground   Plan    of  Pens  and     Sheds. 


THE  SCRATCHING=SHED   POULTRY 
HOUSE. 

A  continuous  house,  with  alternating  curtained- 
front  scratching  sheds  and  closed  roosting  pens,  has 
been  growing  very  rapidly  in  popular  favor  with  prac- 
tical poultryinen,  and  probably  combines  more  advan- 
tages with  fewer  disadvantages  than  any  other  one  style 
of  poultry  house.  Each  combined  pen  and  shed  is 
eighteen  by  ten  feet,  the  curtained-front  shed  being  ten 
by  ten,  and  the  roosting  pen  eight  by  ten  feet — room 
sufficient  for  twenty-five  to  thirty  head  of  fowls  of  the 
American  varieties,  or  thirty-five  to  forty  Leghorns.  No 
alley  is  required  in  this  plan  of  house,  the  walk  being 
through  the  pens  and  sheds,  as  shown  in  the  ground-plan. 

We  would  build  this  house  seven  feet  high  in  front 
and  five  feet  high  at  the  back.  Sills  and  plates  are  all 
of  two  by  four  scantling,  halved  and  nailed  together  at 
joints.  The  rafters,  corner  studs,  and  studs  in  centers 
of  fronts  of  sheds  are  all  two  by  four;  the  intermediate 
studs  are  two  by  three.  Set  the  sills  on  stone  founda- 
tion a  foot  and  a  half  above  the  ground  level,  or  on 
posts  set  into  the  ground  below  the  usual  frost  line, 
the  posts  being  set  five  feet  apart  excepting  in  front  of 
roosting  pens  (where  they  come  four  feet  apart), — 
there  being  a  post  at  corner  of  each  pen  and  shed,  with 
one  between.  The  rafters  should  be  two  feet  between 
centers;  as  lumber  comes  twelve,  fourteen,  or  sixteen 

feet  in  length,  and  two-feet-apart  rafters  allow  the  lumber  to  be  used  with  almost  no  waste.  The  sills  we  would  set  a  foot  and  a  half  above  average  ground  level. 
When  set  on  posts  put  hemlock  (or  some  hard  wood)  boards  from  bottom  half  of  sill  down  to  ground,  nailing  them  firmly  to  sill  and  foundation  posts;  then  fill  up 
inside  to  bottom  of  sills  and  slope  the  ground  outside  to  same  height,  as  illustrated  in  Fig.  1.  Toe-nail  studs  to  sills  firmly,  plates  to  studs  ditto,  and  rafters  to 
plates.  Set  the  studs  in  front  of  roosting  pens  to  take  the  window  frames  (or  the  window  sash,  if  no  frames  are  used),  and  in  partitions  a  stud  should  be  set 
to  take  the  two  and  one  half  feet  wide  doors  and  gates.  All  of  the  framing  is  simple  and  easy,  and  any  man  who  can  saw  off  a  board  or  joist  reasonably  square 
and  drive  nails  straight  can  build  this  house;  the  slight  bevel  at  each  end  of  rafters  being  perfectly  simple.  All  boarding  is  lengthwise,  the-  boards  being  firmly 
nailed  and  good  joints  made  all  over.  Cover  the  roof  and  sides  with  Paroid,  and  the  house  will  be  wind  and  water  proof.  A  twelve-light  window  of  eight  by  ten 
glass  is  set  in  the  front  of  each  roosting  p;-ii,  and  all  doors  and  gates  are  two  and  one  half  feet  wide  by  six  feet  high.  If  you  cannot  afford  Paroid  for  both  roof  and 
sides,  we  recommend  it  for  roof  and  Neponsei  for  sides. 

[7] 


reed  Tvough, 


~TJ 


Partition  between  Pens. 


Partition  between  Sheds.        Front  of  Scratching -Shed 
I'n..    14  — Continuous  curtained- front,   scratch  ing-shed  poultry  house. 


of  Roosting  Room. 


FIG.   15       Dr.   Bricault's  "New  Idea"  poultry  house. 

DR.  BRICAULT'S  "NEW  IDEA"  POULTRY  HOUSE. 

Desiring  a  poultry  house  which  would  give  closed  pens  or  could  be  opened  up  to  admit  the  air  and  sunshine  at  will,  Dr.  C.  Bricault,  Andover,  Mass.,  adapted 
the  well-known  "Dutch  door"  to  his  purpose,  putting  the  door  in  the  middle  of  the  front  of  each  pen,  and  so  arranging  it  that  the  whole  door  could  be  open 
day  and  night,  in  warm  weather,  or  the  lower  half  of  the  door  shut  and  the  top  half  open,  or  the  top  half  could  be  closed  by  a  curtain  in  quite  cold  weather, 
and  in  severe  storms  the  whole  door  closed.  The  size  of  the  pens  is  ten  by  twelve  feet,  the  frame  and  building  plan  being  substantially  the  same  as  in  the  pre- 
ceding house-plan,  the  doors  in  the  front  of  each  partition  giving  a  passage  through  the  entire  length  of  the  house.  There  are  two  windows  in  the  front  of  each 

pen;  the  roosts  are  set  against  the  partitions  betweeii 

the  pens,  and  the  trap-nests  are  set  on  a  platform 

against  the  north  wall.     The  building   is   covered 

with  a  cheap  sheathing  paper,  then  with   sheathing 

quilt,  then  Neponset  Red   Rope   Roofing;  a  better 

construction  would  be  Paroid   Roofing  on  the   roof 

and  Neponset  on  sides. 

Fig.  16  shows  a  front  perspective  of  the  house, 

with  the  lift-off  gates  taken  down  to  permit  driving 

through  the  yards;   Fig.  17  gives  an  interior  view 

Fir,.  16      Front  elevation,  showing  gates  opening  through.  of   one   of   the   pens,  showing  roosts   and  trap-nests.  |.-I(;.   17      interior  o!  pen. 

m 


Curtain-frost  poultry  house  at  the  \l:iim*  Experiment 

THE  MAINE  EXPERIMENT  STATION   CURTAIN-FRONT  HOUSE 

The  must  advanced  poultry-house  construction  has  been  developed  on  the  poultry  plant  of  the  Maine  Experiment  Station,  and  consists  of  a  house-front 
half  open,  excepting  that  there  is  a  cloth  curtain  in  the  opening  (on  cold  nights  and  in  stormy  weather),  and  there  is  an  elevated  roosting  closet  with  another 
cloth  curtain  in  front.  It  seerns  almost  cruelty  to  animals  to  put  hens  in  houses  where  they  have  only  two  cloth  curtains  between  them  and  the  cold  of  winter 
in  central  Maine,  hut  a  bulletin  recently  published  says:  "These  curtain-front  houses  have  all  proved  eminently  satisfactory.  Not  a  case  of  cold  or  snuffles  has 
developed  from  sleeping  in  the  warm  elevated  closets  with  the  cloth  fronts,  and  then  going  down  into  the  cold  room,  on  to  the  dry  straw,  and  spending  the  day  in 
the  open  air.  The  egg  yield  per  bird  has  been  as  pood  in  these  houses  as  in  the  warmed  ones. 

The  Maine  Station  has  now  three  of  these  curtain-front  houses.  Of  the  two  long  houses  one  is  one  hundred  and  fifty  by  twelve  feet,  divided  into  pens  twenty 
by  twelve  feet,  in  each  of  which  are  housed  fifty  hens;  the  other  is  one  hundred  and  twenty  by  sixteen  feet,  divided  into  pens  thirty  by  sixteen  feet,  and  one  hundred 
hens  are  kept  in  each. 

fig.  18  gives  a  single  pen  of  the  one  hundred  and  fifty  foot  long  house,  with  a  door  opening  into  the  pen  from  a  board  walk  along  the  front.  Each  pen  has 
two  windows,  which  light  the  interior  when  it  is  necessary  to  keep  the  curtain  down;  the  space  at  the  east  end  is  occupied  by  nest  boxes.  The  curtain  in  front  is 
twelve  by  four  feet,  is  hinged  at  top  so  it  may  be  swung  up  against  the  roof  and  hooked  up  there;  the  roosting  closet  is  up  three  feet  from  the  floor,  the  platform  is 
three  feet  wide,  and  the  curtain  which  closes  the  front  is  the  whole  length  of  the  pen,  is  hinged  at  the  top  and  swings  up  against  the  roof,  where  hooks  secure  it 
out  of  the  way.  The  whole  floor  of  the  pens  is  open  for  exercise,  and  is  an  enclosed  out-of-doors  pen  all  the  time. 


I'lc,.    IV  — Nest  boxes 


FIG.  20  —  Rear  of  pen,  showing  roosting-closet. 


;.   21 — Cross-section. 


[9 


FK;.   22 — A   long  poullry   liouce  on  ilie  White  Leghorn  poultry  yards,   \\atenillr,    \.    V. 


A  POULTRY  HOUSE  250  FEET  LONG 

In  New  York  State  it  has  been  thought  desirable  to  have  warm  houses  for  the  Single  Comb  White  Leghorns  so  largely  kept  there,  and  we  give  an  illustration 
of  one  of  the  long  poultry  houses  of  the  White  Leghorn  Poultry  Yards,  Waterville,  N.  Y.  This  house  is  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long  by  sixteen  feet  wide, 
divided  into  pens  twelve  feet  square  and  a  walk  three  and  a  half  feet  wide  along  the  north  side.  It  has  a  floor  of  seven-eighths  inch  matched  boards  throughout. 
The  outside  walls  are  first  boarded,  then  covered  with  sheathing  paper  and  clapboarded.  The  inside  of  the  building  is  boarded  up  with  matched  boards  on  the 
inside  of  the  studs,  making  a  four-inch  dead  air  space  between  the  walls.  The  ceilings  are  made  of  matched  boards  laid  at  the  level  of  the  plates.  In  this 
ceiling,  over  the  center  of  each  pen,  is  a  small  trap  door,  two  f.-et  square,  opening  up  into  the  attic  space  above,  which  is  designed  to  give  diffusive  ventilation. 

Three  ventilating  cupolas  cap  the  roof  and  there  are  full-sized  windows  in  each  gable  end.  This  attic  space  is  a  storage  room  for  straw,  which  is  drawn 
upon  from  time  to  time  to  furnish  scratching  material  for  the  pen  floors,  and  opening  the  trap  door  in  the  ceiling  (Fig.  23)  gives  excellent  ventilation 
without  drafts.  A  door  opens  from  the  alleyway  into  each  pen,  and  doors  in  the  partitions  between  the  pens  permit  passing  through  from  pen  to  pen.  The 
roost  platforms  with  nest  boxes  beneath  are  against  the  partitions  between  the  walk  and  pens  (Fig.  24),  and  the  plan  of  partitions  between  pens  is  shown  in 
Fig.  23.  The  roof  is  covered  with  Paroid  roofing.  A  fault  here  is  the  wire  netting  in  these  partitions,  which  invites  drafts;  a  better  plan  would  be  matched 
board  partitions  throughout. 

The  twelve  feet  square  pens  have  one  hundred  and  forty-four  square  feet  of  floor  space  each,  giving  ample  room  for  twenty-five  head  of  layers,  and  while 
along  house  of  this  description  is  somewhat  expensive  to  build,  it  has  many  advantages,  which,  on  a  large  and  permanent  poultry  plant,  will  more  than  make 

up  for  the  first  cost  in  the  ease  and  economy  of  feeding,  etc.,  and 
the  warmth  of  the  house  and  simplicity  of  ventilation.  This  style 
of  poultry  house  has  been  in  use  on  the  White  Leghorn  farm  for 
several  years,  and  has  been  found  to  be  both  practical  and  econo- 
mical; it  combines  very  completely  the  laying  and  breeding  house. 
On  this  plant  they  practice  the  alternate  system  of  males  in  the 
pens,  a  small  coop  for  the  extra  male  being  set  against  the  parti- 
tion in  one  corner  of  the  pen,  four  feet  up  from  the  floor.  One 
male  bird  is  cooped  up  while  the  other  runs  with  the  hens  and 
they  are  exchanged  every  two  or  three  days,  the  change  being 
effected  at  night. 


FlG.   23 — Interior,   showing  partitions  between  pens. 


Fi<;.   24  —  Interior  of  pen,   slum  inj:   rousts. 


[10] 


Fn;.  25 —  Mr.   A.    G.    Dustou's  five-pen    breeding  house. 


MR.  DUSTON'S  POULTRY  HOUSES. 

One  of  America's  most  successful  poultrymen  is  Mr.  Arthur  G.  Duston,  of  South  Framingham,  Mass.,  and  as  he  has  recently  established  himself  on  a  new 
farm,  to  secure  necessary  room,  the  type  of  poultry  houses  he  decides  are  the  best  for  him  is  of  interest.  He  is  building  seventeen  houses  of  five  pens  each,  and 
uses  some  thirty  odd  of  his  well-known  colony  houses  (Fig.  27).  The  five-pen  houses  are  raised  from  the  ground  from  two  to  three  feet,  the  space  beneath  being 
utilized  as  scratching  room.  Kach  house  is  fifty  by  twelve  feet,  the  pens  being  ten  by  twelve  feet  each,  and  there  are  two  windows  in  the  front  of  each  pen; 
doors  in  the  front  of  partitions  allow  passing  through  from  pen  to  pen.  The  roosts  are  at  the  back,  with  nest  boxes  beneith  the  roost  platforms. 

This  house  has  a  short  hip-roof  sloping  south,  which  is  open  to  the  objection  of  carrying 
part  of  the  roof-drip  to  the  front  of  the  house, —  a  fault  which  ca'i  be  mitigated  by  a  gutter 
along  the  .front,  but  that  increases  the  cost  without  always  giving  complete  relief  from  the 
drip;  uc  decidedly  prefer  the  single  slope  roof. 

Mr.  Huston's  "colony"  or  portable,  houses  are  justly  favorites,  the  distinctive  feature 
of  them  being  the  double  door,  or  wire  netting  door  covered  with  a  second  door.  The  advan- 
tages of  this  door  are  great;  they  give  excellent  ventilation  without  drafts,  and  complete  security 
from  four-footed  foes.  These  "colony"  houses  are  ten  by  five  feet  on  the  ground,  five  feet 
high  in  front,  a:ul  four  feet  high  at  the  back,  and  have  board  floors. 


.  ______ 

-1 

^*^ 

>, 

'\ 

ia  



' 

/  • 

/• 

/. 

Fie.   27  — \!r.    Huston's   "  Coloay  "    liouse. 


2.    BARNS,   STABLES,  ETC. 


FIG.    28  —  A  t  illage  stable  for  a  horse  and  cow. 


There  is  great  diversity  in  plans  of  barns  and  stables,  the  taste  of  indi- 
vidual owners  seeming  to  favor  this  or  that  plan,  a;  they  think  it  hrst 
adapted  to  their  needs.  We  have  thought  it  wise  to  give  here  a  few  simple, 
practical  plans,  which  have  approved  themselves  in  actual  use.  Barns  and 
stables  need  not  be  expensive  in  construction  nor  elaborate  in  fittings;  the 
important  considerations  are  the  convenience  of  the  owner  and  the  adapt- 
ability of  the  building  to  its  purpose. 

In  Kigs.  28,  29  and  311  we  give  a  plan  for  a  village  stable,  for  the  man 
who  keeps  a  horse  and  one  or  two  cows,  and  the  ground  Hoor  also  provides 
room  for  the  work-bench  I  which  is  most  desirable  where  there  are  boys 
in  the  family ),  besides  standing  room  for  the  carriage,  wagon,  and  sleigh. 

This  stable  is  planned  to  be  twenty-six  feet  long  by  eighteen  feet 
wide,  is  ten  feet  from  floor  level  to  eaves,  and  fourteen  feet  from  floor  to 
ridge  of  roof.  More  pitch  can  lie  given  to  roof  if  desired,  but  with  a 
good  rooting  like  Paroid  the  roof  slope  may  be  slight.  It  would  be 
better  to  make  the  walls  two  feet  higher  if  more  storage  space  is  desired 
above  the  scaffold  floor.  The  doorway  is  eight  by  eight  feet,  anil  stall 
space  eight  by  eight  feet  is  made  in  each  front  corner;  a  box  stall  is 
provided  for  the  horse  and  two  c«w  stalls  in  the  left-hand  corner,  with 
a  small  door  opening  into  the  cow  linter.  Hay  scaffolds  seven  feet  above 


—  I TT 


•Ir 

-I 

1^-     I 


—  Cross-section. 


the  floor  extend  across  each  end  and  may  be  joined  at  the  rear  if  desired; 
a  scaffold  floor  above  the  large  doors  extends  from  front  to  rear,  or  to  the 
drop-scaffold  walk  connecting  the  two  side  scaffolds  at  the  rear.  A 
basement  six  or  seven  feet  deep  under  the  whole  is  a  valuable  addition 
to  such  a  stable,  making  room  for  storing  and  rotting  the  manure,  and  a 
storage  room  for  roots,  etc. ,  in  one  corner. 

Six-inch-square  sills,  posts,  and  floor  stringers  are  amply  strong  for 
the  strain  usually  put  upon  a  small  stable,  and  the  center  posts,  set  at 
corners  of  box  stall  and  cow  stalls,  help  carry  the  main  floor  and  the 
storage  floor  above.  If  preferred,  the  intermediate  posts  may  be  set  in 
the  center  and  the  stall-spaces  extended  a  foot,  making  them  8x9  feet. 
With  the  roof  covered  with  Paroid  roofing,  and  the  sides  with  Neponset 
Red  Rope  Roofing  battened  on  laps  and  halfway  between  laps,  a  very 
neat  and  economically  constructed  stable  is  made. 

[12] 


w 

PflK 

BE  NCH 

Q 

, 

| 

, 

BOX    STALL 
S'X  a 

cow 

STALLS); 

1 

Tin1  farm  ham  is  a  most  important  aid  to  economy  of  labor,  if  "rightly 
|>laiim-il.  and  «c  give  on  this  page  the  plans  of  a  small  barn,  for  a  farm  where 
eight  or  ten  cows  are  kept,  such  as  is  quite  common  in  New  England  and  the 
Middle  States,  and  which  gives  excellent  satisfaction  everywhere.  On  the  farm 
where  this  plan  was  studied  the  pair  of  horses  were  housed  in  a  small  horse 
kirn  nearer  the  dwelling  house,  the  Democrat  wagon,  canopy  top  carriage 
and  sleigh,  etc.,  being  under  the  same  roof. 

This  barn  is  forty-four  feet  long  by  thirty-four  feet  wide,  and  is  built  in 
four  "bays"  of  eleven  feet  in  length  each.  The  main  floor  is  twelve  feet  wide, 
anil  hay  wagons  drive  in  at  either  erd  and  out  at  the  other.  The  cow  stalls 
occupy  all  of  the  linter  on  the  south  side,  a  door  at  the  end  opening  into  the  lane 
to  the  pasture.  The  first  bay  on  the  north  side  is  ceiled  up  with  tongued  and 
grooved  hoards,  lias  a  tight  floor  overhead,  and  is  used  as  a  grain  storeroom;  the 
other  three  bays  on  that  side  are  hay  mows  from  floor  to  roof. 

Over  the  main  floor  and  fifteen  feet  above  it  is  a  floor  for  hay,  or  corn,  or 
used  for  general  storage  at  different  seasons.  There  was  no  floor  on  the  collar- 
beams  when  the  present  owner  bought  the  farm.  Strong  poles  had  been  laid 
across  the  space  and  surplus  hay  thrown  on  them;  since  being  floored  over  the 


Ku;.   H  — A  barn  for  a  small  dairy  farm. 


-44- 


?2.  —  Ground  plan. 


owner  says  it  is  the  best  part  of  the  barn,  and  invaluable  for  drying  out  crops  not  fully  cured. 
A  basement  about  six  feet  in  depth  receives  the  manure  from  the  cows,  and  three  or  four  hogs  have 
the  run  of  the  cellar  and  manure  heaps,  thoroughly  rotting  and  "fining"  the  manure  for  the  next 
season's  crops. 

The  frame  of  this  barn  is  of  eight-inch  square 
hemlock  timber,  the  braces  three  by  four  inch  hem- 
lock mortised  into  posts  and  stringers,  the  floor  stringers 
three  by  nine  inches,  two  feet  apart  and  well  cross- 
bridged,  the  floor  of  three-inch  plank.  The  scaffold 
floor  is  of  inch  boards  laid  on  two  by  six  inch  stringers 
three  feet  apart,  and  is  amply  strong  for  any  load  put 
upon  it. 

Grain  bins  along  two  sides  of  the  grain  room  may 
be  four  feet  wide,  and,  fitted  with  drop  fronts,  may  be 
five  feet  high  and  divided  into  two  or  more  compart- 
ments. Two  small  bins  may  be  fitted  in  each  side  of 
the  window;  the  window  may  be  in  the  end  if  preferred. 

FIG.  33  —  Cross-section. 


|''K..    H- — A  complete  dairy  barn,   wit!)  silo. 

A    COMPLETE    DAIRY    BARN 

Modern  dairy  farming  means  an  up-to-date  dairy  barn,  and  we  give  herewith  the  plans  of  one  which  is  warmly  endorsed  by  the  owner  and  carries  fifty 
cows  in  perfect  comfort.  This  is  a  truss-frame  barn,  ninety-three  feet  long  by  forty  feet  wide,  the  basement  (or  ground)  floor  being  wholly  occupied  by  cow 
stalls  and  calving  pens,  the  main  floor  being  a  hay-storage  room.  Two  bays  on  one  side  are  used  for  grain  storage,  all  the  remainder  of  the  bays  on  both  sides 
being  for  hay;  a  driveway  fifteen  feet  wide  extends  through  this  Moor,  and  inclined  driveways  at  each  end  give  access  from  the  fields  in  either  direction. 

The  ground  floor  is  concrete  throughout.  A  walk  five  feet  wide  extends  along  each  side  and  cross  walks  three  feet  wide  are  between  each  row  of  stalls 
at  both  front  and  rear,  one  for  feeding  and  the  other  for  the  cows  and  the  milkers.  A  shallow  gutter,  eighteen  inches  wide  by  six  inches  deep,  extends  along  the 
rear  of  the  stalls  to  receive  the  droppings  and  urine,  which  is  removed  twice  a  day  and  drawn  at  once  to  the  fields  or  heaped  for  tramping  over  and  rotting 
under  wide-roofed  sheds.  The  calving  stalls,  four  at  each  end  of  this  floor,  are  eight  by  seven  and  three  quarters  feet  in  size,  and  one  or  two  of  them  can  be 
occupied  by  bulls,  if  desired. 


The  watering  system  may  be  either  a  wooden  gutter  extending  along  the  front  of  each  row  of  stalls  or  a  east-iron  semicircular  pan  set  between  each  pair 
of  stalls  so  as  to  supply  a  cow  on  either  side.  Whether  troughs  or  pans  are  used  there  should  be  an  automatic  cock  and  tank,  which  keeps  the  water  always 
at  the  desired  level,  and  check  valves  which  prevent  the  water  once  in  the  trough  or  basin  returning  to  the  pipe  and  contaminating  others. 

All  the  food  is  stored  on  the  main  Moor,   whence    convenient 

chutes  convey  it  to  feeding  troughs  or  push-carts  on  the  walks  below.        ,  ^     ,  ,  —  — 

The  ensilage  from  the  silo  is  loaded  directly  into  the  push-carts  just  /\   DAIRY 

outside  the  door,  or  could  be  chuted  to  the  walk  inside.  The 
soiling  crops  fed  in  summer  are  cut  up  on  the  main  floor  and  sent 
down  to  the  waiting  push-carts  in  the  walks  below.  The  roof  and 
sides  of  this  barn  are  covered  with  Paroid  roofing. 

The  tying  arrangement  may  be  either  chains,  straps,  or  swing 
stanchions  as  desired,  and  all  three  methods  are  in  use  on  up-to-date 
dairy  barns.  The  stock  kept  may  have  an  influence  upon  the 
length  of  the  stalls;  those  given  are  seven  and  one  half  feet  long 
by  three  feet  three  inches  wide. 


V 


J-    GRAIN 

CHUTS 


FLOOR. 


I'l    .    U» — (iixiLUKt  floor  plan  of  basement  story. 


1_ 

"1 

n 

or 

U                          LJ                          LJ 

,                                                                                                       MAY        CHUTE 
V' 

'N, 

IIIIIHIIIIIA, 

GRAIN 

ROOM 

c 

1 

HL 

Kir,.   ?7 —  Floor  plan  of  main  floor. 


[15] 


FiG.    38 —  A  stable  for  a  suburban  place. 


A  STABLE  FOR  A  SUBURBAN  PLACE 

A  convenient  and  well-arranged  stable  is  greatly  appreciated]  aiul  we 
present  plans  for  a  stable  for  four  horses,  with  carriage  room,  harness  room, 
man's  room,  etc.,  hayloft,  platform  for  drying  the  bedding,  and  other  ac- 
cessories of  a  modern  stable  for  a  suburban  home.  It  is  built  without  cupola 
or  other  ornamental  features,  is  just  a  plain,  simple  stable. 

This  building  is  forty-four  by  twenty-four  feet  in  size,  the  sides  and 
roof  rough  boards  covered  with  P.-roid  Roofiing.  There  is  a  basement  under 
the  whole. 

The    walls  and   ceiling  of  the  entire   lower  floor  are  sheathed  with   hard 
pine,  a  wooden  partition  separating  the   horse  stalls   from  the  carriages,   and 
abundant   windows    give  light  and  air  to  all    purls.     The    ventilation    of   the 
horse  room  is  such  that  no  gases  reach  the  carriages,   and   "  Hydrex  "   waterproofing  felt   between  the  floorings  of  the  carriage  room  cuts  off  the  steam  and  gases 
from  the  manure  pit.     The  iron  gutter  along  the  rear  of  the  stalls  is  covered  with  a  maple   or  birch  plank,  and  the   stall   floors   are  either  maple   or  birch.      Run- 
ning water  is  piped  to  the  water  basin   in   the   horse   room,   and  a   hose   cock  on  the  other  side   of  the  partition  receives  the   hose  for  washing   carriages,  or  a 
revolving,  overhead  hose-fixture  can  be  installed,  just  above  the  washing-floor  if  desired.      A  hot-water  heater  may  be  installed   on  the   main   floor,  but   better  be 
in  the  basement,    where   the  coal   bin   would  be;    radiators   may  be  set  as  desired, 
with  one  at    least    in    rear  of  the  box  stall    and    one  on    the    carriage  floor,   and    a 
small   one  in   the    man's   room    on    second    floor.     The  roof  is  drained  by    galvan- 
ized   iron    pipes    emptying    into    blind    wells.      The    carriage    room    floor    is    con- 
creted, and   a  drain  pipe  leads  from 
the    depression    where     carriages    are 

g |          washed  to  a  blind  well.      At  one  end 

is  a  platform  for  drying  the  bedding, 
and  ventilation  is  so  well  provided 
for  there  are  almost  no  odors.  As  it 
is  planned  this  is  a  practical,  conven- 
ient, well-arranged  stable,  adapted 
to  the  needs  of  a  family  of  moderate 
means  on  a  suburban  place. 


0  L_ 


.  6 

I* 


BOX 
STALL 


HARNESS 
ROOM 


n 


FIG.   40  —  Second  story  Plan. 


FIG.    39  — Flour  plan. 


,6] 


A  PLANK=FRAME  BARN. 

The  plank-frame  barn  has  been  very  popular  in  several  sections  of  the  West, 
the  considerable  saving  in  lumber  and  ease  of  building  recommending  it  to 
I  radical  men.  Less  men  and  time  are  required  to  build  one  of  these  barns;  they 
art-  stronger,  the  excellent  "bracing"  of  the  frame  making  them  effective  to 
stand  the  pressure  of  hay  and  grain  within  or  strong  winds  without. 

In  some  sections  a  solid  frame  foundation  is  used,  in  Maine  the  entire 
structure  is  of  plank;  the  barns  are  built  either  with  or  without  basement,  accord- 
ing to  the  taste  of  the  owner.  A  good,  firmly  built  stone  and  cement  foundation 
is  advisable;  with  this  foundation  to  rest  the  plank  upon  the  frame  is  raised.  Do 
not  be  sparing  of  spikes,  they  are  an  essential  feature. 

No  sills  are  used,  and  the  upright  studs  take  the  place  of  posts.  Two  for 
each  post  are  set  on  the  foundation  on  each  side,  between  these  is  placed  and 
spiked  the  cross-plank,  which  extends  the  width  of  the  bam  and  ties  the  two  sides 
together.  The  scantlings  on  each  side  of  barn  floor,  forming  center  posts,  are  then 

raised  and  spiked  in  place.  Upon 
outside  of  each  upright  is  spiked 
a  plank  of  same  size  as,  and  par- 
allel with,  the  first  cross  plank; 
this  gives  three  2x8's  for  cross 
sills  through  center  of  barn,  each 
joint  or  band  being  fixed  in  this 
way.  Knd  joints,  using  boards 


FIG.  41      A  plank  frame  barn. 


Fl<;.  4>       Cross-section. 


instead  of  plank  on  outside,  give  the  bedwork  of  the  barn.  At  the 
sides,  between  uprights  in  place  of  sill,  a  plank  is  firmly  spiked;  this 
holds  the  uprights  firmly  in  place  and  prevents  working  sideways, 
while  the  thoroughly  spiked  cross  planks  prevent  all  movement  in 
other  directions. 

Some  barns  are  boarded  diagonally,  some  horizontally;  both 
methods  give  excellent  satisfaction.  Many  of  these  barns  are  built  with 
a  hip-roof,  as  in  the  illustration  given,  and  these  give  a  great  amount 
of  storage  room  in  the  loft.  The  steepei  single-slope  roof  gives 
equally  good  results,  looks  well,  and  is  a  little  moie  economical  to  build. 

Paroid  on  roof  and  sides  makes  it  wind  ind  water-proof. 


f  17  1 


COW   STALLS 


HORSC  STALLS 


FIG,  42      Ground  plan. 


THE  ECONOMY  OF  A  GOOD  ROOF 

Nearly  one  hundred  years  ago  we  began  making  paper  and  felts,  and  for  over  twenty-five  years  have  been  making  ready  roofings. 
NEPONSET  RED  ROPE  ROOFING  was  the  first  ready  roofing  ever  made  and  it  filled  and  is  filling  a  long-felt  want  for  a  low  cost 
roofing  and  siding.  It  was  not  intended  for  a  permanent  roofing,  but  has  lasted  in  many  instances  over  ten  years.  If  it  averages  five  to 
seven  years,  users  say  they  get  more  than  their  money's  worth. 

About  ten  years  ago  we  foresaw  a  large  and  growing  demand  for  something  more  permanent.  We  had  been  making  practical 
tests  and  experiments  for  years  along  this  line  and  we  placed  PAROID  Roofing  on  the  market.  It  immediately  became  the  standard 
ready  roofing  of  the  United  States  Government,  the  largest  railroads,  manufacturers,  farmers  and  poultrymen  all  over  the  country,  and 
it  continues  to  hold  their  favor  because  it  is  a  ready  roofing  of  "  quality.'* 

The  farmer  uses  a  large  part  of  our  output  for  barns,  silos,  sheds,  poultry  buildings,  and  his  dwelling  house.  It  gives  the  same 
good  results  on  all  kinds  of  buildings. 

We  might  go  into  detail  and  tell  how  we  make  PAROID,  but  we  want  to  devote  all  the  space  we  can  to  plans  and  specifications 
which  will  help  you  get  up-to-date  and  economical  buildings.  Perhaps  you  have  had  some  experience  with  tarred  roofings,  so  we  want 
you  to  know  that  PAROID  and  NEPONSET  contain  no  tar. 

Here  are  a  few  reasons  for  PAROID'S  success.  It  is  made  of  the  most  durable  materials,  which  do  not  lose  their  vitality  for 
many  years.  It  is  rain  and  cold  proof,  and  this  especially  recommends  it  for  poultry  and  farm  buildings.  A  warm,  dry  building  is 
very  essential  to  successful  farmers  and  poultry  men.  Of  course  no  ready  roofing  is  absolutely  fireproof,  but  PAROID  is  proof  against 
fire  from  sparks  or  embers,  and  buildings  will  never  burn  on  account  of  PAROID  being  on  the  roof.  It  does  not  taint  water,  is  of 
light  slate  color,  and  is  acid,  gas,  and  fume  proof. 

You  don't  need  experienced  men  to  apply  PAROID.  You  or  your  own  men  can  do  it.  We  were  the  originators  of  the 
complete  roofing  kit,  fixtures,  and  complete  directions  for  laying  packed  inside  of  each  roll.  PAROID  is  so  pliable  that  it  can  be  easily 
laid  in  winter  as  well  as  in  summer. 

PAINTING 

We  don't  advise  painting  PAROID  for  eighteen  months  to  two  years,  and  it  is  not  necessary  to  do  so  then,  but  we  recommend  it 
because  it  is  a  better  insurance  for  longer  life  and  good  service.  The  cost  is  very  small  and  a  coat  every  few  years  is  a  good  investment. 

SIDING 

You  cannot  imagine  the  neat  effect  PAROID  gives  when  applied  to  the  sides  of  a  building  with  cleats  or  battens.  You  can, 
without  extra  expense,  make  your  buildings  look  neat,  at  the  same  time  make  them  warm  and  dry  by  using  PAROID  on  roof  and  sides. 

NEPONSET  RED  ROPE  ROOFING 

Has  more  good  qualities  than  any  other  roofing  made  for  the  money.  It  has  stood  the  test  of  time,  and  those  who  first  used  it  are  still  using  it,  which  is  proof 
enough  of  the  good  work  NEPONSET  will  do.  It  is  waterproof  anH  windproof,  does  not  taint  rain  water,  and  is  easily  applied.  Each  roll  contains  fixtures 
and  complete  directions  for  applying. 

A  GOOD  COMBINATION 

The  farmer's  and  poultryman's  most  economical  combination  is  PAROID  for  the  roof  and  NEPONSET  applied  with  battens,  for  the  sides,  unless,  of 
course,  you  feel  you  can  afford  PAROID  for  sides  also. 

F  18  1 


Tin  caps,  nails,  cement,  and 
complete  directions  for  lay- 
ing: are  packed  in  each  roll. 


LINING  PAPERS 

Some  people  prefer  to  use  a  sheathing  paper  for  lining  their  poultry  houses  or 
other  buildings,  and  others  use  it  under  roofing  and  siding.  Of  course  it  makes  a 
tighter  and  warmer  building,  but  it  is  not  absolutely  necessary.  NEPONSET 
BLACK  WATERPROOF  PAPER  is  an  inexpensive  paper  when  one  wishes  a 
lining  paper. 

PAINTS 


Brooder  bouse,  roof  covered  with  PARO1D.  White  Leghorn  Poultry  Yards,  Watervilie.  N.  Y. 


Because  ordinary  paints  do  not  wear  well  on  PAROID  and  NEPONSET, 
we  make  PARINE  (black)  and  NEPONSET  (dark  brown)  PAINTS.     These 
do  not  cost  as  much  as  the  ordinary  lead  and  oil  paints.     Our  paints  are  made 
especially  for  our  roofings,  and  are  sure  to  stick,  whereas  lead  and  oil,  not  having  any  affinity  for  the  PAROID  coating,  are  liable  to  peel  off. 

SIZE  OF  ROLLS 

PAROID  is  put  up  in  rolls  thirty-six  inches  wide,   which  contain  two  squares  and  enough  extra  for  a  two-inch  lap.      (A  square   is  ten  by  ten  feet.) 

NEPONSET  is   put  up  in   rolls  thirty-six  inches   wide,   which  contain   one   hundred,  two  hundred  and  fifty  and  five  hundred   square  feet. 

Fixtures  and  complete  directions  for  applying  are  packed  inside  of  each  roll  of  PAROID  and  NEPONSET. 

Send  us  the  dimensions  of  your  buildings  and  we  will  tell  you  what  enough  PAROID  and  NEPONSET  to  cover  will  cost,  delivered  to  your  nearest 
railroad  station. 

We  realize  that  you  may  be  considering  some  other  roofing  material  which  is  perhaps  cheaper  than  PAROID,  and  that  the  temptation  to  buy  this  imitation  will 
be  great.  We  also  realize  that  the  imitation  may  look  like  and  appear  to  be  equal  to  PAROID,  but  do  not  be  deceived  by  the  appearance.  We  claim  emphatically 


PAROID  covers  a  Vermont  farm  barn. 


Duck  breeding  house,  roof  and  sides  covered  with  PAROID.  Weber  Bros..  Pondville    Mass. 


Colony  chicken  bouses  on  farm  of  G.  M.  Gowell,  of  the  Maine  Agricultural  Experiment  Station,   Orono.   Maine.     The  roofs  are  covered  with  PAROID,  sides  with  NEPONSET. 


that  the  imitations  of  PAROID  grow  brittle  with  age,  are  liable  to  buckle  on  the  roof,  are  hard  to  apply,  and  in  a  short  time  are  unsightly  in  appearance,  all  of 
which  make  a  dissatisfied  customer.  The  manufacturers  themselves  do  not  know  how  long  they  will  last,  for  most  of  them  have  been  on  the  market  only  a 
year  or  two. 

PAROID  may  cost  a  little  more  than  these  imitations,  but  the  difference  in  cost  is   not  the  difference  in  the  profit  which  we   make,  but  is  the  difference  in 
the   quality   of   the    material.       You    cannot    afford    to   use  a  cheap    roofing    at 
any  price. 

The  most  recent  endorsement  given  by  the  United  States  Government  was 
the  choosing  of  PAROID  for  work  on  the  Panama  Canal.  The  specifications  for 
this  work  called  for  "PAROID  or  equal,"  and  while  nearly  a  hundred  bids  were 
received  on  imitations  of  PAROID,  the  whole  order  was  placed  with  us.  The 
Government  has  used  many  million  square  feet  of  PAROID  in  this  country, 
Cuba,  and  the  Philippines. 

If  you  will  look  up  the  records  of  PAROID  and  the  imitations  before  you  place 
your  order,  and  choose  the  one  with  the  best  record,  we  will  both  be  satisfied. 

We  have  only  told  you  some  of  the  things  you  ought  to  know  about  roofings 
and  have  devoted  the  test  of  the  space  to  up-to-date  economical  farm  buildings  and 
specifications,  which  we  trust  will  be  helpful  when  you  build.  Please  remember 
that  we  are  here  to  help  you  with  your  building  troubles  in  any  way  that  we  can. 
Don't  fail  to  write  us. 


r  ™  i 


PAROID  on  a  Canadian  farm  barn. 


Meadow  Brook  Farm  poultry  plant.   Dallas.   Pa      Roofs  arc  covered  with  1'AROlD. 


KENDALL  MILLS,  N.  Y. 
F.  W.   Bixn  A  SON. 

Dear  Sirs:  —  Please  send  me  your  agent's  address  at  Rochester.     We  want  to  use  some  of  your 
Neponset  Red  Rope  Building  Paper.     We  have  some  and  think  nothing  can  beat  it. 

Yours  and  oblige. 

FHED  WINTER. 


riNi'HR  SANDWICH,  N.  H. 

Gentlemen  :  —  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  your  booklet.  1  am  perfectly  delighted  with 
Paroid  Roofing.  Have  used  it  on  my  chicken  and  squab  houses.  I  bought  of  Mr.  Brown  of  Ashland, 
N.  H.,  who  handles  your  goods.  I  expect  to  send  you  a  large  order  soon.  Will  do  my  utmost  for  you 
in  this  section.  Respectfully, 


FRED  WILLIAMS,  SR. 


EAST  NORTHFIKLD,   MASS. 
F.  W.  BIRD  A  SON,  EAST  WALPOLE,  MASS. 

Dear  Sirs :  —  Your  communication  of  the 
18th  at  hand.  Sample  of  Paroid  arrived  in  due 
time,  and  1  am  much  pleased  with  it  and  shall 
give  it  a  trial.  1  shall  want  some  at  our  farm  in 
Montville,  Conn.,  in  the  Spring.  1  have  used 
your  Nepunset  for  the  past  ten  years  and  like  it 
very  much. 

Yours  very  truly, 

J.  R.  COLTON. 


EAST  LYME,  CONN. 

Gentlemen  :  —  Enclosed  please  find  P.  O. 
order  for  SS.OO.  Please  send  me  by  freight  five 
hundred  feet  Neponset  Red  Rope  Roofing.  You 
furnished  us  in  1891  for  our  brooder  house  covering 
quite  a  large  amount  of  this  paper.  1  inclose  a 
small  sample  of  it.  It  is  as  good  as  the  day  it  was 
put  on.  H.  F.  Cutter  A  Co.  was  the  firm  you 
sent  it  to.  I  consider  it  the  best  roofing  of  the 
kind  1  have  ever  seen. 


Yours  very  truly. 


WM.  T.    CI/TTEK. 


Barn    on    the    largest    stock    farm    in    Minnesota.      Eight    hundre.1    squares    of  PAROID    put    on    roof  of  this  barn    by    the    farm    hands  themselves. 

[2,] 


PAROID  covers  tlie  Plant  Industry   Buildings,    U.    S.    Department  of  Agriculture.    Washington,    D.    C 


BALTIMORE,  Mn. 
F.  W.  BIRD  A  SON,  EAST  WAI.POI.E,  MASS. 

Gentlemen  :  —  We  have  just  paid  a  visit  to  our  farm  at  Relay,  Md., 
and  are  greatly  pleased  to  find  tlic  Paroid  Roofs  of  our  dairy  barns  and 
poultry  buildings  in  such  a  fine  state  of  preservation.  If  you  will 
remember,  it  is  some  five  years  since  we  put  the  first  roof  of  Paroid  on  one 
of  the  bin  poultry  houses,  as  an  experiment,  and  it  stood  so  well,  even 
though  we  had  never  used  a  drop  of  paint  on  it,  that  we  forgot  it  «;is 
there.  Two  years  later  our  big  barns  were  destroyed  by  fire,  and  with  the 
barns  went  all  the  buildings  but  this  one  poultry  house,  which  was  un- 
doubtedly saved  by  its  Paroid  Roof.  So  impressed  were  we  with  this  fact 
that  on  rebuilding,  we  covered  the  big  new  dairy  barns.  242  feet  in  length, 
with  2-ply  Paroid.  A  year  ago,  on  the  28th  of  January,  our  house  was 
burned  to  the  ground  and  alt  the  buildings  were  again  subjected  to  a 
baptism  of  sparks  from  thr  burning  building,  but  thanks  to  Paroid.  none 
of  the  outbuildings  were  burned.  No  leaks  have  occurred  during  the  year 
past  and  the  roofs  seem  to  be  in  perfect  condition. 
Faithfully  yours, 

CLEMENT  A  CLEMENT. 

BURLINGTON,  Vr. 

MESSRS.   HAGAK  BROTHERS,  BURLINGTON,   VT. 

Dear  Sirs:  —  I  think  it  was  three  years  ago  this  spring  that  the 
horse  barn  at  our  farm  on  North  Avenue,  this  city,  was  covered  with 
Paroid  Roo .'ing  bought  of  you.  It  has  never  leaked  a  drop,  presents  a 
good  appearance,  and,  apparently,  it  is  as  good  as  when  first  put  on. 
I  am  satisfied.  Respectfully, 

A.     B.     KlNGSLAND. 


A  hog  house   on  a  Vermont  farm,  cove  ed  with   PAROID. 


Duck   plant   of   James    Kan  kin,    South    Kaston,  Mass.     West   side   of    lane,    showing   250-foot   brooding   house     125-foot    breeding 
house  and   100-foot  barn.     The  roofs  are  covered   with    PAROID. 

[22] 


MARRLK  HILL,  GA. 
MISSRS.  J.  M.  ALEXANDER  A  Co.,  ATLANTA,   GA. 

Gentlemen;  —  We  are  pleased  to  he  able  to  testify  tliat  the  Paroid 
Roofing  (sixty-three  squares)  bought  from  you  in  June,  1901,  has  given  us 
entire  satisfaction.  We  have  not  spent  a  penny  for  repairs  since  putting  it 
UN.  We  were  so  well  pleased  with  it  that  we  ordered  ninety  squares  more 
in  September,  1902,  to  cover  the  extension  to  our  new  mill. 

We  believe  it  to  be  the  best  and  most  economical  roofing  that  can 
be  used. 

Yours  truly, 

THE  SOUTHERN  MARBLE  Co. 


WALBROOK,   BALTIMORE,  MD. 
Mrs^ns.    F.   W.    BIRD  A  SON.   EAST  WALI-OI  i ,    MASS. 

Grntlrmen  :—  The  Paroid  Roofing  bought  of  you  last  fall  for  cow 
stable  roof  on  one  of  my  farms  has  given  great  satisfaction —  in  fact  it  is  far 
superior  to  steel,  that  cost  me  just  four  times  the  price.  Tor  those  wMiiuj; 
yiiur  routine,  in  my  section,  you  can  refer  to  me  for  reference.  I  thought 
you  should  know  this.  With  regards. 

Yours  truly, 

FRANCIS  SANDERSON. 


FUTURE  ROCKS.   PA. 
F.  W.  BIRD  A  SON,  EAST  WALPOLE.  MASS. 

Gentlemen  ,-  —  \  received  sample  of  Paroid  Roofing,  also  Red  Rope  Roofing.  1  have  used 
fifteen  squares  of  your  Red  Rope  Roofing  in  the  last  eleven  years.  I  have  some  in  use  as  siding 
tliat  has  been  on  ten  years,  and  is  good  for  that  many  more.  Your  Paroid  is  all  right,  and  I 
shall  need  some  next  fall.  Do  you  make  candy  boxes  of  one  quarter  and  one  half  pound  si/e, 
like  draft  f  If  so,  send  me  samples  and  prices. 

Yours  truly, 

WILLIAM  H.  STEELE. 


Monmouth  Poultry  I 'arm.    Freneau,    N.  J.      Roof  covered  with   PARO11). 


PAROID  on  cattle  shed  on  Beechfield  farm 
Arlington.    Baltimore  Co.,    Md. 


PAROID  covers  a  Vermont  barn  and  silo 


A  cow  barn.   East  Greenwich,   R.   1.     Roof  covere.i  will,  PAROID. 


I).  J.   Lambert  says:    "PAROID  is  all  right;"  and  he  knows. 


PAROID  covers  a  farm  kirn,    Burlington.   Vt. 


-n 

iv 

i  — 

•H  SO 

O 

TO 

?  f  > 

I  O 

Om 

O 

1 
1 
c 

O       3       P 

rn 

O       w 

O  7 

m  rn 

II 

c 

-<            ^ 

^n 

u 

j 

a 

^     o     w> 

§•  g.  s 

sg 

100 

5 

O 

c 

m 

i  s-  s 
«  1  » 

m  ° 

g55 

—a 

-45m-9,'6 

| 

-i 

n     O     ! 

e.  •<   3 

Cn 

to 

f| 

•* 

rri 

^ 

3       S"     > 

I      Q 

TO 

TJ 

"    3    S 
»  °    3 

^"Z 

rn  _< 

m 

fe      •"     X 

5  o 

—    A  O 

D 

u    *•    O 

^<  m 

i  ~n 

m  n 

09 

y  •<   Jo 

^ 

C 

m 

•D 

70 

it 

'3*  5 

>o 

O  70 
•£>•  Z 

0 

5° 
? 

CO 

^ 

m 

***t* 

S> 

3- 

Z 
_4 

PO* 

O  " 

a. 

P 

DD 

m 

c 

3. 

A 

•i 
o 

" 

m 

* 

®      3 

YC  65649 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


